Making Money Program

Marsha Blackburn Attacks Social Security

BLACKBURN: My colleagues are celebrating the birth of a great new entitlement program today. Only they see dependency on the Federal government and the death of freedom as a cause for celebration. My colleagues celebrate this day as being like the day when Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid were passed. They forget that today those programs are insolvent and will likely crush our children under their debt. My colleagues are overjoyed that soon their goal of having Americans dependent on the Federal government for mortgages, student loans, retirement and health care will be realized.

That is a chilling goal. My colleagues cheer that this bill is paid for. They ignore the fact that it is our children who will pay for their greed. My colleagues shame us for scaring the American people about the contents of this bill. We know the consequences of this bill will be frightening and horrible. Freedom dies a little bit today, unfortunately some are celebrating and I yield back.

As I said back then, it's too bad she didn't show the same indignation for those tax cuts for the rich or endless military occupations that she loves so much. I'm wondering if their direct attacks on Social Security have been giving them some headaches from real life voters because in her interview with Crowley she changes her tune a bit.

CROWLEY: Congresswoman Blackburn, can you cure what ails the U.S. economy without taking on entitlements, which also are not addressed in this pledge? Nothing about Medicare, nothing about Social Security. Can you really do anything about the economy unless you look at those, as well?

BLACKBURN: Candy, one of the things we have to realize is the document that is in front of us, the pledge, is for the here and now. These are things that could have been -- they could be done right now before the November elections, and they should be done, to give some certainty.

And yes, what we do is roll the spending back, cap it, freeze the federal hiring, and then start working our way through. You know, what the American people have told us as we have listened to them, spent months listening to them, and developed this document is, look, show us what is going to be the pathway to a balanced budget. Show us how we're going to be able to get this debt under control because it has skyrocketed, absolutely skyrocketed in the past three years.

And then let's sit down and have a discussion, an adult discussion between the tax-payers, between our elected representatives of how we address entitlements and how we make certain that the commitments that are there on Medicare and on Social Security are going to be kept.

We have to remember that money, the Medicare money, the Social Security money, people have had that coming out of their paycheck all their working lives. It is their money.

It's their money, huh? Except you want to turn it over to Wall Street under the guise of "protecting it." And as far as her pretending she's listening to her voters when it comes to that ridiculous "pledge"on they just sent out, Rachel Maddow had something to say about that last Thursday. They're only listening to their voters if those voters happen to be the former corporate lobbyist who wrote the pledge for them. They're not listening to the people who weighed in on their web sites.

Newly launched shopping incentive platform Ifeelgoods today announced that it will help retail websites to give away Facebook Credits as rewards to customers. Users can earn Credits for making purchases, sharing with friends, clicking ads, signing up for email updates, or for redeeming loyalty program points. Facebook Credits have a low cost but a high perceived value, especially to social gamers who are often online shoppers, making them a more cost-effective incentive than discounts and rebates. These so-called “micro-incentives” could become a powerful way to entice customers to follow a call to action.

Retail websites first add some simple javascript code to display messages such as “Buy this dress and get 25 Facebook Credits” or “Post to Facebook and get 3 Credits.” Users then click a Facebook Connect button, allow the Ifeelgoods app access, and the Credits are automatically deposited in the user’s Facebook account. The integration will only be lightly branded as powered by Ifeelgoods.

The company is part of Facebook’s app2user program which enables apps such as ShopKick and Rixty to help merchants and loyalty program operators offer their customers Facebook Credits in lieu of other rewards. This effectively creates another payment method for Credits where users pay or create value for retailers who in turn pay Facebook. The Ifeelgoods team comes from Shop.org, PayPal, Google, and French media agency AGORAD, and has received $1.1 million in seed funding from Tugboat Ventures, Kima Ventures, Quest Venture Partners and angel investors. A number of undisclosed retailers are ready to implement the incentive program upon launch.

The company’s VP of Product Suchit Dash explains that Ifeelgoods has purchased a pool of full-priced Credits from Facebook, and one possible business model would be to sell them at-cost to retailers along with a set up fee for implementing the integration. Later, the company hopes to get discounts from Facebook for bulk Credits purchases, netting it a margin on each Credit sale.

Dash says ifeelgoods Credits incentives are similar to offering “free shipping where the perceived value to customers is seven or eight dollars, but the cost for retailers is three or four dollars. Five Facebook Credits are worth more than their actual value to someone heavily invested in FarmVille. We’re aligning ourselves with a currency which has potential. As users begin to be able to buy online books or music with Facebook Credits, the perceived value of the Credits expands.” By providing a low cost way to encourage users to spend money, give up contact information, and distribute marketing messages, Ifeelgoods shares the buying power of social gamers with online retailers.

Glenn Beck vs. Fox <b>News</b>: &#39;Tension&#39; Between Beck &amp; Network

Glenn Beck appears on the cover of this weekend's New York Times Magazine in a lengthy profile written by Mark Leibovich. In the profile, Leibovich touches on tensions between Beck and Fox News, the network that catapulted him to ...

EXCLUSIVE: Rachel Zoe and Brad Goreski Calling It Quits — Amicably <b>...</b>

Thomas Evans/PatrickMcMullan.com/Sipa "Bananas!" Celeb stylist Rachel Zoe and her bow-tie clad assistant Brad Goreski have sadly decided to go their separate ways, effective Oct. 1.

Weather HD comes to iPhone, iPod touch | iLounge <b>News</b>

iLounge news discussing the Weather HD comes to iPhone, iPod touch. Find more Apps + Games news from leading independent iPod, iPhone, and iPad site.

bench craft company rip off
benchcraft company scam

Glenn Beck vs. Fox <b>News</b>: &#39;Tension&#39; Between Beck &amp; Network

Glenn Beck appears on the cover of this weekend's New York Times Magazine in a lengthy profile written by Mark Leibovich. In the profile, Leibovich touches on tensions between Beck and Fox News, the network that catapulted him to ...

EXCLUSIVE: Rachel Zoe and Brad Goreski Calling It Quits — Amicably <b>...</b>

Thomas Evans/PatrickMcMullan.com/Sipa "Bananas!" Celeb stylist Rachel Zoe and her bow-tie clad assistant Brad Goreski have sadly decided to go their separate ways, effective Oct. 1.

Weather HD comes to iPhone, iPod touch | iLounge <b>News</b>

iLounge news discussing the Weather HD comes to iPhone, iPod touch. Find more Apps + Games news from leading independent iPod, iPhone, and iPad site.

benchcraft company scam bench craft company rip off

Marsha Blackburn Attacks Social Security

BLACKBURN: My colleagues are celebrating the birth of a great new entitlement program today. Only they see dependency on the Federal government and the death of freedom as a cause for celebration. My colleagues celebrate this day as being like the day when Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid were passed. They forget that today those programs are insolvent and will likely crush our children under their debt. My colleagues are overjoyed that soon their goal of having Americans dependent on the Federal government for mortgages, student loans, retirement and health care will be realized.

That is a chilling goal. My colleagues cheer that this bill is paid for. They ignore the fact that it is our children who will pay for their greed. My colleagues shame us for scaring the American people about the contents of this bill. We know the consequences of this bill will be frightening and horrible. Freedom dies a little bit today, unfortunately some are celebrating and I yield back.

As I said back then, it's too bad she didn't show the same indignation for those tax cuts for the rich or endless military occupations that she loves so much. I'm wondering if their direct attacks on Social Security have been giving them some headaches from real life voters because in her interview with Crowley she changes her tune a bit.

CROWLEY: Congresswoman Blackburn, can you cure what ails the U.S. economy without taking on entitlements, which also are not addressed in this pledge? Nothing about Medicare, nothing about Social Security. Can you really do anything about the economy unless you look at those, as well?

BLACKBURN: Candy, one of the things we have to realize is the document that is in front of us, the pledge, is for the here and now. These are things that could have been -- they could be done right now before the November elections, and they should be done, to give some certainty.

And yes, what we do is roll the spending back, cap it, freeze the federal hiring, and then start working our way through. You know, what the American people have told us as we have listened to them, spent months listening to them, and developed this document is, look, show us what is going to be the pathway to a balanced budget. Show us how we're going to be able to get this debt under control because it has skyrocketed, absolutely skyrocketed in the past three years.

And then let's sit down and have a discussion, an adult discussion between the tax-payers, between our elected representatives of how we address entitlements and how we make certain that the commitments that are there on Medicare and on Social Security are going to be kept.

We have to remember that money, the Medicare money, the Social Security money, people have had that coming out of their paycheck all their working lives. It is their money.

It's their money, huh? Except you want to turn it over to Wall Street under the guise of "protecting it." And as far as her pretending she's listening to her voters when it comes to that ridiculous "pledge"on they just sent out, Rachel Maddow had something to say about that last Thursday. They're only listening to their voters if those voters happen to be the former corporate lobbyist who wrote the pledge for them. They're not listening to the people who weighed in on their web sites.

Newly launched shopping incentive platform Ifeelgoods today announced that it will help retail websites to give away Facebook Credits as rewards to customers. Users can earn Credits for making purchases, sharing with friends, clicking ads, signing up for email updates, or for redeeming loyalty program points. Facebook Credits have a low cost but a high perceived value, especially to social gamers who are often online shoppers, making them a more cost-effective incentive than discounts and rebates. These so-called “micro-incentives” could become a powerful way to entice customers to follow a call to action.

Retail websites first add some simple javascript code to display messages such as “Buy this dress and get 25 Facebook Credits” or “Post to Facebook and get 3 Credits.” Users then click a Facebook Connect button, allow the Ifeelgoods app access, and the Credits are automatically deposited in the user’s Facebook account. The integration will only be lightly branded as powered by Ifeelgoods.

The company is part of Facebook’s app2user program which enables apps such as ShopKick and Rixty to help merchants and loyalty program operators offer their customers Facebook Credits in lieu of other rewards. This effectively creates another payment method for Credits where users pay or create value for retailers who in turn pay Facebook. The Ifeelgoods team comes from Shop.org, PayPal, Google, and French media agency AGORAD, and has received $1.1 million in seed funding from Tugboat Ventures, Kima Ventures, Quest Venture Partners and angel investors. A number of undisclosed retailers are ready to implement the incentive program upon launch.

The company’s VP of Product Suchit Dash explains that Ifeelgoods has purchased a pool of full-priced Credits from Facebook, and one possible business model would be to sell them at-cost to retailers along with a set up fee for implementing the integration. Later, the company hopes to get discounts from Facebook for bulk Credits purchases, netting it a margin on each Credit sale.

Dash says ifeelgoods Credits incentives are similar to offering “free shipping where the perceived value to customers is seven or eight dollars, but the cost for retailers is three or four dollars. Five Facebook Credits are worth more than their actual value to someone heavily invested in FarmVille. We’re aligning ourselves with a currency which has potential. As users begin to be able to buy online books or music with Facebook Credits, the perceived value of the Credits expands.” By providing a low cost way to encourage users to spend money, give up contact information, and distribute marketing messages, Ifeelgoods shares the buying power of social gamers with online retailers.

bench craft company rip off

Glenn Beck vs. Fox <b>News</b>: &#39;Tension&#39; Between Beck &amp; Network

Glenn Beck appears on the cover of this weekend's New York Times Magazine in a lengthy profile written by Mark Leibovich. In the profile, Leibovich touches on tensions between Beck and Fox News, the network that catapulted him to ...

EXCLUSIVE: Rachel Zoe and Brad Goreski Calling It Quits — Amicably <b>...</b>

Thomas Evans/PatrickMcMullan.com/Sipa "Bananas!" Celeb stylist Rachel Zoe and her bow-tie clad assistant Brad Goreski have sadly decided to go their separate ways, effective Oct. 1.

Weather HD comes to iPhone, iPod touch | iLounge <b>News</b>

iLounge news discussing the Weather HD comes to iPhone, iPod touch. Find more Apps + Games news from leading independent iPod, iPhone, and iPad site.

benchcraft company scam benchcraft company scam

Glenn Beck vs. Fox <b>News</b>: &#39;Tension&#39; Between Beck &amp; Network

Glenn Beck appears on the cover of this weekend's New York Times Magazine in a lengthy profile written by Mark Leibovich. In the profile, Leibovich touches on tensions between Beck and Fox News, the network that catapulted him to ...

EXCLUSIVE: Rachel Zoe and Brad Goreski Calling It Quits — Amicably <b>...</b>

Thomas Evans/PatrickMcMullan.com/Sipa "Bananas!" Celeb stylist Rachel Zoe and her bow-tie clad assistant Brad Goreski have sadly decided to go their separate ways, effective Oct. 1.

Weather HD comes to iPhone, iPod touch | iLounge <b>News</b>

iLounge news discussing the Weather HD comes to iPhone, iPod touch. Find more Apps + Games news from leading independent iPod, iPhone, and iPad site.

benchcraft company scam benchcraft company scam

Glenn Beck vs. Fox <b>News</b>: &#39;Tension&#39; Between Beck &amp; Network

Glenn Beck appears on the cover of this weekend's New York Times Magazine in a lengthy profile written by Mark Leibovich. In the profile, Leibovich touches on tensions between Beck and Fox News, the network that catapulted him to ...

EXCLUSIVE: Rachel Zoe and Brad Goreski Calling It Quits — Amicably <b>...</b>

Thomas Evans/PatrickMcMullan.com/Sipa "Bananas!" Celeb stylist Rachel Zoe and her bow-tie clad assistant Brad Goreski have sadly decided to go their separate ways, effective Oct. 1.

Weather HD comes to iPhone, iPod touch | iLounge <b>News</b>

iLounge news discussing the Weather HD comes to iPhone, iPod touch. Find more Apps + Games news from leading independent iPod, iPhone, and iPad site.

benchcraft company scam

Making Money on Ebay

This post is part of Mashable’s Spark of Genius series, which highlights a unique feature of startups. The series is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark.. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here.

Name: Off & Away

Quick Pitch: Members bid in auctions on stays in hotel suites for up 99% off retail rates.

Genius Idea: How many five-star hotels have you stayed at? Of those, how many of those stays have been in the resort’s most prestigious suite? And how many of those stays have been for two nights or more? If your answer is greater than zero, then this post isn’t for you, money bags. The rest of us, though, might want to try our hand at the innovative auction site Off & Away.

Off & Away promises unheard of discounts on luxury suites (up to 99% off retail prices) at top resorts in the U.S. and Mexico. These aren’t the economy rooms you can find on other travel sites. There is one giant catch — one that applies to all auction sites, including eBay, the granddaddy of them all. You must be the highest bidder when the auction ends in order to seal the deal.

Off & Away auctions start off cheap to begin with. Each new bid raises the auction price by $0.10, and each auction runs for a limited period of time. Once the time runs out, the highest bidder wins the auction. The process sounds simple enough, but Off & Away throws a few curve balls into the typical online auction format, making the auction experience a quirky ride that will likely get your blood pumping.

First, you’ll need to buy bids if you want to participate in auctions. Each bid costs $1.00, and you can buy as many or as few as you want. You can then use these bids during actions, but you’ll want to keep in mind that each bid is essentially costing you a buck.

Off & Away gets especially interesting when a hotel deal is just seconds away from going to the highest bidder; this is when the hidden bidders come out to play. Once the auction reaches the final two minutes, each new bid resets the countdown clock to 20 seconds and raises the auction price by $0.10.

Let’s say a resort stay is ready to go to the highest bidder for $49.50 with just seconds left on the clock. A lurking user could pop in with one second remaining, submit a bid, reset the clock to 20 seconds and raise the price to $49.60. Bidding continues until the rest of the bidders give up and allow the auction clock to run down to zero.

To say the formula is a catalyst for frenzied competition between stubborn bidders holding out for the best deal till the very end is a huge understatement. In my own experiences, the bidding competition that happens in the last few seconds can extend an auction for hours — it’s an exciting, adrenaline-enthused experience that often results in disappointment. Most of these hotel deals are so remarkable that your desire to win will outweigh the potential risk of defeat.

The good news is that your used bids don’t completely go to waste. Each used bid can be applied towards $1.10 off another room at the resort in question. You’re obviously not getting the suite experience with these standard room offers, but it’s still a decent consolation prize.

But Can You Really Win?

I’ve tried my hand at a few auctions to no avail. Just the possibility of a win is enticing enough to lure me in and compel me to use my prepaid bids, but I’ve yet to reach the finish line. I’ll keep trying though, and that’s in no small part due to the genius formula cooked up by CEO Doug Aley and team.

Aley assures me that eventually I will win — and that you will too. Earlier today he penned a blog post with tips on how to win. He recommends picking auctions that are less competitive and strategizing ahead of time about how and when to bid. Of course, he also recommends stocking up on bids, but that’s a no-brainer strategy that also works to the startup’s advantage.

Off & Away’s continued success will be dependent on helping more users win. After all, who wants to spend money to buy bids that essentially just go wasted?

Risk Versus Reward for Hotels

The quality of hotel stays offered through Off & Away is impressive to say the least — these hotels are the hotels we only dream about staying at. With the price of sale totally dependent on site users, we questioned Aley about the risk-reward potential for hotels who use the service.

“We have special deals worked out with our hotel partners that ensure that they don’t field any of the risk. Beyond that, our hotel partners and customers know that just because an auction goes for an incredibly inexpensive price doesn’t mean there weren’t a lot of people lurking that were interested in the room. Many times, we have a group of people that are just ’saving their bullets’ for what they think is the end of the auction, only to see their chance to bid slip away,” explains Aley.

Off & Away is a Seattle-based startup that’s raised $1.35 million from Madrona Venture Group and additional private investors. The site’s pedigree includes a staff of travel veterans from Amazon and Orbitz. As the startup evolves, look for it to reduce total auction length and introduce better ways for members to apply bids used on lost auctions for better deals.

Sponsored by Microsoft BizSpark

BizSpark is a startup program that gives you three-year access to the latest Microsoft development tools, as well as connecting you to a nationwide network of investors and incubators. There are no upfront costs, so if your business is privately owned, less than three years old, and generates less than U.S.$1 million in annual revenue, you can sign up today.

For more Tech coverage:

class="f-el">class="cov-twit">Follow Mashable Techclass="s-el">class="cov-rss">Subscribe to the Tech channelclass="f-el">class="cov-fb">Become a Fan on Facebookclass="s-el">class="cov-apple">Download our free apps for iPhone and iPad

I’m 14 1/2 weeks pregnant with our first & now that things are starting to not fit anymore, I have been trying to do some maternity clothes shopping. But wow! I didn’t realize clothing yourself while pregnant was so expensive! Just curious to know if you had any ideas or thoughts on places to go for good deals on maternity clothes. -Eden

Maternity clothes can definitely be very pricey, but there’s no need to spend exorbitant amounts on a whole new wardrobe to clothe you while pregnant. Instead, take it as an opportunity to get creative and think outside the box. Here are some things which have allowed me to spend very little on maternity clothes over the course of my last three pregnancies:

Re-purpose Items You Already Have

I’m pretty petite, so the 30 pounds I always gain with each pregnancy mean I go up at least two to three sizes in clothing by the end of my pregnancy! Needless to say, I’m not one of those women who can wear her regular jeans the entire pregnancy (I wish!).

However, I’ve found that some things in my wardrobe can still be worn until at least six months. Sweaters, high-waisted blouses and items which can be layered work especially well for this. So start with what you already have in your closet and see if there are some items which can be re-purposed to work as maternity clothes — at least for a little while.

Borrow From Friends

So many friends have been kind to let me borrow their maternity clothes from them over my last few pregnancies. They’ve always offered to share and I’ve been more-than-happy to take them up on their offer. And I’ve been happy to return the favor to others now that I’ve built up my own “collection” of maternity clothes.

Buy Used

Before going out and buying anything new, definitely check out the possibilities available for used clothing. Craigslist, Freecycle, garage sales, eBay, consignment stores and many other sites online carry used maternity clothes — often at a fraction of the price of buying new.

Shop the Clearance Racks

Motherhood Maternity, Target and Old Navy usually have some pretty good clearance racks in the maternity section. If you keep your eye on them when you’re out shopping, you’ll likely be able to find some good deals. And if you can pair the clearance deal with a coupon (which are often released for Target and Old Navy) you might find a killer deal! In addition, you can occasionally find some great deals online at Kohl’s when they have $0.99 shipping and a coupon code.

Choose Quality Over Quantity

Since I’m a minimalist, I always find it easiest to just have a few classic pieces which mix and match. A few pair of jeans or capris (depending upon the season, a pair of really comfy yoga pants, a couple of skirts, a few casual shirts and a few dressy shirts. I go for quality over quantity and just wear the items over and over and over again during those four months or so when I’m in maternity clothes full-time.

I’ve found it’s best to buy shirts which have ties in the back as these can be adjusted with your growing belly. I like elastic-banded pants, jeans and skirts which go under the belly (like these) as I can wear them my entire last half of the pregnancy and then for a few weeks postpartum, too. Making sure you buy items which can be worn more than a few weeks saves a lot of time and effort.

What are your ideas and suggestions for saving money on maternity clothes? Tell us in the comments.

Obama: Fox <b>News</b> Has A Point Of View That Is &#39;Ultimately <b>...</b>

President Obama has given a lengthy interview to Rolling Stone publisher Jann Wenner for the upcoming issue of the magazine. The cover story is titled Obama Fights Back and boy does he ever. At least where Fox News is concerned.

Critics &quot;validated&quot; Wii Dead Space Wii <b>News</b> - Page 1 | Eurogamer.net

Read our Wii news of Critics. ... Dead Space: Extraction explained 3 September, 2009. Latest News. Visceral wants to make Dead Space 3 . Wii's Dead Space heading to PSN/XBLA? . Dead Space 2 to have online multiplayer? ...

Obama Says Fox <b>News</b> Is Hurting The Growth Of The United States

President targets Murdoch, hedge fund executives, and whiny Democrats in Rolling Stone interview.

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Obama: Fox <b>News</b> Has A Point Of View That Is &#39;Ultimately <b>...</b>

President Obama has given a lengthy interview to Rolling Stone publisher Jann Wenner for the upcoming issue of the magazine. The cover story is titled Obama Fights Back and boy does he ever. At least where Fox News is concerned.

Critics &quot;validated&quot; Wii Dead Space Wii <b>News</b> - Page 1 | Eurogamer.net

Read our Wii news of Critics. ... Dead Space: Extraction explained 3 September, 2009. Latest News. Visceral wants to make Dead Space 3 . Wii's Dead Space heading to PSN/XBLA? . Dead Space 2 to have online multiplayer? ...

Obama Says Fox <b>News</b> Is Hurting The Growth Of The United States

President targets Murdoch, hedge fund executives, and whiny Democrats in Rolling Stone interview.

This post is part of Mashable’s Spark of Genius series, which highlights a unique feature of startups. The series is made possible by Microsoft BizSpark.. If you would like to have your startup considered for inclusion, please see the details here.

Name: Off & Away

Quick Pitch: Members bid in auctions on stays in hotel suites for up 99% off retail rates.

Genius Idea: How many five-star hotels have you stayed at? Of those, how many of those stays have been in the resort’s most prestigious suite? And how many of those stays have been for two nights or more? If your answer is greater than zero, then this post isn’t for you, money bags. The rest of us, though, might want to try our hand at the innovative auction site Off & Away.

Off & Away promises unheard of discounts on luxury suites (up to 99% off retail prices) at top resorts in the U.S. and Mexico. These aren’t the economy rooms you can find on other travel sites. There is one giant catch — one that applies to all auction sites, including eBay, the granddaddy of them all. You must be the highest bidder when the auction ends in order to seal the deal.

Off & Away auctions start off cheap to begin with. Each new bid raises the auction price by $0.10, and each auction runs for a limited period of time. Once the time runs out, the highest bidder wins the auction. The process sounds simple enough, but Off & Away throws a few curve balls into the typical online auction format, making the auction experience a quirky ride that will likely get your blood pumping.

First, you’ll need to buy bids if you want to participate in auctions. Each bid costs $1.00, and you can buy as many or as few as you want. You can then use these bids during actions, but you’ll want to keep in mind that each bid is essentially costing you a buck.

Off & Away gets especially interesting when a hotel deal is just seconds away from going to the highest bidder; this is when the hidden bidders come out to play. Once the auction reaches the final two minutes, each new bid resets the countdown clock to 20 seconds and raises the auction price by $0.10.

Let’s say a resort stay is ready to go to the highest bidder for $49.50 with just seconds left on the clock. A lurking user could pop in with one second remaining, submit a bid, reset the clock to 20 seconds and raise the price to $49.60. Bidding continues until the rest of the bidders give up and allow the auction clock to run down to zero.

To say the formula is a catalyst for frenzied competition between stubborn bidders holding out for the best deal till the very end is a huge understatement. In my own experiences, the bidding competition that happens in the last few seconds can extend an auction for hours — it’s an exciting, adrenaline-enthused experience that often results in disappointment. Most of these hotel deals are so remarkable that your desire to win will outweigh the potential risk of defeat.

The good news is that your used bids don’t completely go to waste. Each used bid can be applied towards $1.10 off another room at the resort in question. You’re obviously not getting the suite experience with these standard room offers, but it’s still a decent consolation prize.

But Can You Really Win?

I’ve tried my hand at a few auctions to no avail. Just the possibility of a win is enticing enough to lure me in and compel me to use my prepaid bids, but I’ve yet to reach the finish line. I’ll keep trying though, and that’s in no small part due to the genius formula cooked up by CEO Doug Aley and team.

Aley assures me that eventually I will win — and that you will too. Earlier today he penned a blog post with tips on how to win. He recommends picking auctions that are less competitive and strategizing ahead of time about how and when to bid. Of course, he also recommends stocking up on bids, but that’s a no-brainer strategy that also works to the startup’s advantage.

Off & Away’s continued success will be dependent on helping more users win. After all, who wants to spend money to buy bids that essentially just go wasted?

Risk Versus Reward for Hotels

The quality of hotel stays offered through Off & Away is impressive to say the least — these hotels are the hotels we only dream about staying at. With the price of sale totally dependent on site users, we questioned Aley about the risk-reward potential for hotels who use the service.

“We have special deals worked out with our hotel partners that ensure that they don’t field any of the risk. Beyond that, our hotel partners and customers know that just because an auction goes for an incredibly inexpensive price doesn’t mean there weren’t a lot of people lurking that were interested in the room. Many times, we have a group of people that are just ’saving their bullets’ for what they think is the end of the auction, only to see their chance to bid slip away,” explains Aley.

Off & Away is a Seattle-based startup that’s raised $1.35 million from Madrona Venture Group and additional private investors. The site’s pedigree includes a staff of travel veterans from Amazon and Orbitz. As the startup evolves, look for it to reduce total auction length and introduce better ways for members to apply bids used on lost auctions for better deals.

Sponsored by Microsoft BizSpark

BizSpark is a startup program that gives you three-year access to the latest Microsoft development tools, as well as connecting you to a nationwide network of investors and incubators. There are no upfront costs, so if your business is privately owned, less than three years old, and generates less than U.S.$1 million in annual revenue, you can sign up today.

For more Tech coverage:

class="f-el">class="cov-twit">Follow Mashable Techclass="s-el">class="cov-rss">Subscribe to the Tech channelclass="f-el">class="cov-fb">Become a Fan on Facebookclass="s-el">class="cov-apple">Download our free apps for iPhone and iPad

I’m 14 1/2 weeks pregnant with our first & now that things are starting to not fit anymore, I have been trying to do some maternity clothes shopping. But wow! I didn’t realize clothing yourself while pregnant was so expensive! Just curious to know if you had any ideas or thoughts on places to go for good deals on maternity clothes. -Eden

Maternity clothes can definitely be very pricey, but there’s no need to spend exorbitant amounts on a whole new wardrobe to clothe you while pregnant. Instead, take it as an opportunity to get creative and think outside the box. Here are some things which have allowed me to spend very little on maternity clothes over the course of my last three pregnancies:

Re-purpose Items You Already Have

I’m pretty petite, so the 30 pounds I always gain with each pregnancy mean I go up at least two to three sizes in clothing by the end of my pregnancy! Needless to say, I’m not one of those women who can wear her regular jeans the entire pregnancy (I wish!).

However, I’ve found that some things in my wardrobe can still be worn until at least six months. Sweaters, high-waisted blouses and items which can be layered work especially well for this. So start with what you already have in your closet and see if there are some items which can be re-purposed to work as maternity clothes — at least for a little while.

Borrow From Friends

So many friends have been kind to let me borrow their maternity clothes from them over my last few pregnancies. They’ve always offered to share and I’ve been more-than-happy to take them up on their offer. And I’ve been happy to return the favor to others now that I’ve built up my own “collection” of maternity clothes.

Buy Used

Before going out and buying anything new, definitely check out the possibilities available for used clothing. Craigslist, Freecycle, garage sales, eBay, consignment stores and many other sites online carry used maternity clothes — often at a fraction of the price of buying new.

Shop the Clearance Racks

Motherhood Maternity, Target and Old Navy usually have some pretty good clearance racks in the maternity section. If you keep your eye on them when you’re out shopping, you’ll likely be able to find some good deals. And if you can pair the clearance deal with a coupon (which are often released for Target and Old Navy) you might find a killer deal! In addition, you can occasionally find some great deals online at Kohl’s when they have $0.99 shipping and a coupon code.

Choose Quality Over Quantity

Since I’m a minimalist, I always find it easiest to just have a few classic pieces which mix and match. A few pair of jeans or capris (depending upon the season, a pair of really comfy yoga pants, a couple of skirts, a few casual shirts and a few dressy shirts. I go for quality over quantity and just wear the items over and over and over again during those four months or so when I’m in maternity clothes full-time.

I’ve found it’s best to buy shirts which have ties in the back as these can be adjusted with your growing belly. I like elastic-banded pants, jeans and skirts which go under the belly (like these) as I can wear them my entire last half of the pregnancy and then for a few weeks postpartum, too. Making sure you buy items which can be worn more than a few weeks saves a lot of time and effort.

What are your ideas and suggestions for saving money on maternity clothes? Tell us in the comments.

corporate reputation management

Obama: Fox <b>News</b> Has A Point Of View That Is &#39;Ultimately <b>...</b>

President Obama has given a lengthy interview to Rolling Stone publisher Jann Wenner for the upcoming issue of the magazine. The cover story is titled Obama Fights Back and boy does he ever. At least where Fox News is concerned.

Critics &quot;validated&quot; Wii Dead Space Wii <b>News</b> - Page 1 | Eurogamer.net

Read our Wii news of Critics. ... Dead Space: Extraction explained 3 September, 2009. Latest News. Visceral wants to make Dead Space 3 . Wii's Dead Space heading to PSN/XBLA? . Dead Space 2 to have online multiplayer? ...

Obama Says Fox <b>News</b> Is Hurting The Growth Of The United States

President targets Murdoch, hedge fund executives, and whiny Democrats in Rolling Stone interview.

Dr. eric seiger

Obama: Fox <b>News</b> Has A Point Of View That Is &#39;Ultimately <b>...</b>

President Obama has given a lengthy interview to Rolling Stone publisher Jann Wenner for the upcoming issue of the magazine. The cover story is titled Obama Fights Back and boy does he ever. At least where Fox News is concerned.

Critics &quot;validated&quot; Wii Dead Space Wii <b>News</b> - Page 1 | Eurogamer.net

Read our Wii news of Critics. ... Dead Space: Extraction explained 3 September, 2009. Latest News. Visceral wants to make Dead Space 3 . Wii's Dead Space heading to PSN/XBLA? . Dead Space 2 to have online multiplayer? ...

Obama Says Fox <b>News</b> Is Hurting The Growth Of The United States

President targets Murdoch, hedge fund executives, and whiny Democrats in Rolling Stone interview.

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_18/b4032066.htm

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_18/b4032066.htm

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_18/b4032066.htm

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/1999/10/25/267811/index.htm

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/1999/10/25/267811/index.htm

http://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/1999/10/25/267811/index.htm

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/07_18/b4032066.htm

personal financeonline personal finance

samba big white booty

Middle East Countries Race for Nuclear Power

(Sept. 24) -- Nations in the Middle East, rich in oil, natural gas and volatile politics, are pursuing nuclear power with a headlong vigor that gives some analysts pause.

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In Thursday night's ultra-competitive TV landscape, several shows managed to break away from the pack. According to The Hollywood Reporter, 'The Big B.

The American Spectator : Good <b>News</b>

Hard to avoid the good news these days. A few days back we learned that the war in Iraq was over. Well, sort of, anyway. The President explained that U.S. troops were done with combat but would remain in a support and advisory capacity. ...

Middle East Countries Race for Nuclear Power

(Sept. 24) -- Nations in the Middle East, rich in oil, natural gas and volatile politics, are pursuing nuclear power with a headlong vigor that gives some analysts pause.

<b>News</b> Roundup: &#39;Big Bang Theory&#39; is a Thursday Ratings Hit, Bret <b>...</b>

In Thursday night's ultra-competitive TV landscape, several shows managed to break away from the pack. According to The Hollywood Reporter, 'The Big B.

The American Spectator : Good <b>News</b>

Hard to avoid the good news these days. A few days back we learned that the war in Iraq was over. Well, sort of, anyway. The President explained that U.S. troops were done with combat but would remain in a support and advisory capacity. ...

big white booty

Middle East Countries Race for Nuclear Power

(Sept. 24) -- Nations in the Middle East, rich in oil, natural gas and volatile politics, are pursuing nuclear power with a headlong vigor that gives some analysts pause.

<b>News</b> Roundup: &#39;Big Bang Theory&#39; is a Thursday Ratings Hit, Bret <b>...</b>

In Thursday night's ultra-competitive TV landscape, several shows managed to break away from the pack. According to The Hollywood Reporter, 'The Big B.

The American Spectator : Good <b>News</b>

Hard to avoid the good news these days. A few days back we learned that the war in Iraq was over. Well, sort of, anyway. The President explained that U.S. troops were done with combat but would remain in a support and advisory capacity. ...

personal finance and budgeting

It's hard to beat an excel spreadsheet for quickly shifting between a granular and top-level view of your personal finance situation. Here's reader Lauren's account balance spreadsheet she made to keep track of her expenditures, past, present, and future, and itemize her budget.

Download Lauren's Budgeter (XLS)

1. Scroll to the current month.

2. Enter your current balance in the "Starting Balance" box at the top left.

3. Enter your credits and debits on the appropriate dates they will hit your account. Use positive numbers for money getting added credits, and negative numbers for when it's getting taken away.

4. The green "Total" will change to reflect your total overall balance.

Use it as is, compare it to your own, or mod to fit your own needs.

Lauren says it's "quite nifty," and also uses it as a calendar.

Here's the excel code for the totaler for those who like to look under the hood:

TODAY();_8_10)

+SUMIF(_9_10d;"

Are you a fan of the GTD personal productivity system? Well if you like "Getting Things Done," here's GFD, Getting Finances Done, which shows you how to map David Allen's same principals to managing your personal finance and achieving your financial goals.

Applying GTD principles to your personal finances - Part 1 [Getting Finances Done]

va big white booty

Artnet <b>News</b>: Gang assaults Turkish galleries. Plus, Miami <b>...</b>

ARTNET NEWS. Gang assaults Turkish galleries. Plus, Miami Sculpture Biennial, Prospect 1.5 New Orleans, more.

Bad <b>news</b> for green technology | Watts Up With That?

Super magnet production has also been shipped over to China http://www.chinamagnet.in/i-News-229212/The-development-and-applications-of-Rare-Earth-Permanent-Magnetic-Materials-244616.html. Over the last 10 to 20 years companies have ...

Lindsay Lohan Photos &amp; Pics | BREAKING <b>NEWS</b> - Lindsay Lohan Gets <b>...</b>

Lindsay Lohan has just been sentenced to 30 days in jail for violating her probation after testing positive for cocaine. Judge Fox has denied Lindsay bail and has sent her straight to jail until October 22nd. But due to the overcrowding ...

Artnet <b>News</b>: Gang assaults Turkish galleries. Plus, Miami <b>...</b>

ARTNET NEWS. Gang assaults Turkish galleries. Plus, Miami Sculpture Biennial, Prospect 1.5 New Orleans, more.

Bad <b>news</b> for green technology | Watts Up With That?

Super magnet production has also been shipped over to China http://www.chinamagnet.in/i-News-229212/The-development-and-applications-of-Rare-Earth-Permanent-Magnetic-Materials-244616.html. Over the last 10 to 20 years companies have ...

Lindsay Lohan Photos &amp; Pics | BREAKING <b>NEWS</b> - Lindsay Lohan Gets <b>...</b>

Lindsay Lohan has just been sentenced to 30 days in jail for violating her probation after testing positive for cocaine. Judge Fox has denied Lindsay bail and has sent her straight to jail until October 22nd. But due to the overcrowding ...

big white booty

Artnet <b>News</b>: Gang assaults Turkish galleries. Plus, Miami <b>...</b>

ARTNET NEWS. Gang assaults Turkish galleries. Plus, Miami Sculpture Biennial, Prospect 1.5 New Orleans, more.

Bad <b>news</b> for green technology | Watts Up With That?

Super magnet production has also been shipped over to China http://www.chinamagnet.in/i-News-229212/The-development-and-applications-of-Rare-Earth-Permanent-Magnetic-Materials-244616.html. Over the last 10 to 20 years companies have ...

Lindsay Lohan Photos &amp; Pics | BREAKING <b>NEWS</b> - Lindsay Lohan Gets <b>...</b>

Lindsay Lohan has just been sentenced to 30 days in jail for violating her probation after testing positive for cocaine. Judge Fox has denied Lindsay bail and has sent her straight to jail until October 22nd. But due to the overcrowding ...

Affiliate Making Money

It was last November that we first heard about Chomp, a sort-of Yelp for iPhone apps. At the time, it was still very much in stealth mode, but we kept hearing they raised a seed round of funding from investors like Ron Conway insanely fast. Obviously, we were interested.

By January, we had a sneak peak at the actual service. And about a week later, it formally launched as an app recommendation engine for Apple’s App Store. Another larger round of funding quickly followed, and since then Chomp has been off and running with over 400,000 active users at this point. But now it’s time to take things to the next level — with search.

App discovery in the App Store still basically sucks. There’s the main page which Apple’s curates (and does a nice job with). But beyond that it’s pretty much a nightmare. Discovery is continually under attack by developers trying to game the system by putting bogus words in their titles. And with over 250,000 iPhone apps out there now, there simply needs to be a better way to find the best ones.

Of course, that’s what Chomp has been doing. But up until now, they’ve basically only been doing it based on recommendations from your social graph on Chomp. Yes, there has been some basic search functionality, but it has been no better than the one Apple provides (again, pretty lousy). Today brings the launch of a completely revamped search engine for apps. And notably, it’s in both the Chomp app and on chomp.com.

Co-founder Ben Keighran calls this latest version of Chomp “the most personalized way to search and browse for apps.” He notes that the addition of topic-based search is going to change the way people discover apps. “Imagine having to to go Google and search for ‘www.facebook.com’ — rather than just searching for ‘social network’ and having Facebook come up as a result,” is how he puts it.

Competitors like Appsfire are out there also doing search, but they’re also mainly title (and description) based. In Keighran’s mind, this isn’t enough.

He notes that previously beyond simple name searches results would show up based on popularity of the app. While this isn’t the worst way of doing it, Keighran believes the 50 million recommendations that users have already seeded into Chomp will provide a much better way. “We have a lot of data to build a semantic search engine,” Keighran notes. “We have our own Chomp user sentiment.“

He also notes that they have more reviews in many cases than Apple itself does on apps. The reason is that Chomp makes it very easy to do a review — you say whether you hate the app or love it. And if you want, you can leave a 60-word comment.

Keighran also says that Chomp’s system is better than Apple’s own Genius feature for apps because that’s simply based around what you’ve downloaded. This is all about what people you trust enough to add to your social graph have downloaded and love.

All of this points towards Chomp’s larger goals: to be the place people go to find the best apps no matter what platform they’re on. Currently, Chomp only works for native iPhone apps and web apps for the iPhone, but Android and iPad app search/recommendation is in the works.

Keighran sees a future where apps are everywhere, and people need a single place to find the best of them. Yes, kind of like Google for the web. “This is like the web in 1996,” he says. If this future is realized, he envisions Chomp as having 10 million users by the end of next year. A lofty goal, but perhaps not an insane one.

And if they can get to that size, Keighran sees a lot of money to be made. Sponsored search and recommendations will be a huge business — again, at scale. For now, Chomp is making a small amount of money via affiliate fees from Apple every time someone buys an app by way of Chomp.

So what does Apple think about Chomp one-upping them in app discovery? “Apple is insanely excited about this,” Keighran says. Undoubtedly Google is excited for Chomp to come to Android too. Because this is a very real problem across all platforms and one that’s only growing in size.

Here’s all you need to know…

Gavin Newsom is Nancy Pelosi’s nephew.

Nancy Pelosi’s son (Gavin Newsom’s cousin), Paul Pelosi, Jr., heads and advises many of the San Francisco level gov’t agencies and “foundations” (even holding the position of “Special Adviser on the Environment to the Director of the NASA Ames Research Center”) spending SF’s share of stimulus money on federally mandated and nearly fully stimulus funded environmental and algae biofuel projects. Which companies like Honeywell, Solazyme, Unilever, and a dozen or so other SF headquartered corporations and biofuel start-ups are benefiting from. Biofuel projects which were once headed by Obama’s Sec. of Energy, Steven Chu.

SF is desperately trying to become to the biofuel industry, what Houston is to the oil and gas industry. With the progressive’s push to shift America away from conventional energy…one begins to see the benefit of this new sought feather for the city of SF’s cap.

The only thing likely motivating Newsom’s comments is that SF didn’t receive more or all of CA’s share of stimulus. Once all of SF’s progressive elites have begun profiting off their biofuel “investments,” there will be more lobster and bj parties to be had. Win/win for Newsom any way you look at it.

ASEAN <b>News</b> Summary | Live Stock Trading <b>News</b> | Equities, Forex <b>...</b>

Get the best in ASEAN News daily at www.aseanaffairs.com ASEAN Affairs. PTT drops bid for Carrefour PTT Plc of Thailand is dropping its bid to purchase.

Official Google Blog: Google <b>News</b> turns eight

Today we celebrate the eighth birthday of Google News. Not long after the tragic events of September 11, 2001, we started building and testing Google News with the aim of helping you find current events from a wide variety of global and ...

Small Business <b>News</b>: The Times They Are A Changing

In the 60's it was a song of revolution when change was just not as common. Today, it reflects a fact of life, at least for small business owners and.

robert shumake

ASEAN <b>News</b> Summary | Live Stock Trading <b>News</b> | Equities, Forex <b>...</b>

Get the best in ASEAN News daily at www.aseanaffairs.com ASEAN Affairs. PTT drops bid for Carrefour PTT Plc of Thailand is dropping its bid to purchase.

Official Google Blog: Google <b>News</b> turns eight

Today we celebrate the eighth birthday of Google News. Not long after the tragic events of September 11, 2001, we started building and testing Google News with the aim of helping you find current events from a wide variety of global and ...

Small Business <b>News</b>: The Times They Are A Changing

In the 60's it was a song of revolution when change was just not as common. Today, it reflects a fact of life, at least for small business owners and.

It was last November that we first heard about Chomp, a sort-of Yelp for iPhone apps. At the time, it was still very much in stealth mode, but we kept hearing they raised a seed round of funding from investors like Ron Conway insanely fast. Obviously, we were interested.

By January, we had a sneak peak at the actual service. And about a week later, it formally launched as an app recommendation engine for Apple’s App Store. Another larger round of funding quickly followed, and since then Chomp has been off and running with over 400,000 active users at this point. But now it’s time to take things to the next level — with search.

App discovery in the App Store still basically sucks. There’s the main page which Apple’s curates (and does a nice job with). But beyond that it’s pretty much a nightmare. Discovery is continually under attack by developers trying to game the system by putting bogus words in their titles. And with over 250,000 iPhone apps out there now, there simply needs to be a better way to find the best ones.

Of course, that’s what Chomp has been doing. But up until now, they’ve basically only been doing it based on recommendations from your social graph on Chomp. Yes, there has been some basic search functionality, but it has been no better than the one Apple provides (again, pretty lousy). Today brings the launch of a completely revamped search engine for apps. And notably, it’s in both the Chomp app and on chomp.com.

Co-founder Ben Keighran calls this latest version of Chomp “the most personalized way to search and browse for apps.” He notes that the addition of topic-based search is going to change the way people discover apps. “Imagine having to to go Google and search for ‘www.facebook.com’ — rather than just searching for ‘social network’ and having Facebook come up as a result,” is how he puts it.

Competitors like Appsfire are out there also doing search, but they’re also mainly title (and description) based. In Keighran’s mind, this isn’t enough.

He notes that previously beyond simple name searches results would show up based on popularity of the app. While this isn’t the worst way of doing it, Keighran believes the 50 million recommendations that users have already seeded into Chomp will provide a much better way. “We have a lot of data to build a semantic search engine,” Keighran notes. “We have our own Chomp user sentiment.“

He also notes that they have more reviews in many cases than Apple itself does on apps. The reason is that Chomp makes it very easy to do a review — you say whether you hate the app or love it. And if you want, you can leave a 60-word comment.

Keighran also says that Chomp’s system is better than Apple’s own Genius feature for apps because that’s simply based around what you’ve downloaded. This is all about what people you trust enough to add to your social graph have downloaded and love.

All of this points towards Chomp’s larger goals: to be the place people go to find the best apps no matter what platform they’re on. Currently, Chomp only works for native iPhone apps and web apps for the iPhone, but Android and iPad app search/recommendation is in the works.

Keighran sees a future where apps are everywhere, and people need a single place to find the best of them. Yes, kind of like Google for the web. “This is like the web in 1996,” he says. If this future is realized, he envisions Chomp as having 10 million users by the end of next year. A lofty goal, but perhaps not an insane one.

And if they can get to that size, Keighran sees a lot of money to be made. Sponsored search and recommendations will be a huge business — again, at scale. For now, Chomp is making a small amount of money via affiliate fees from Apple every time someone buys an app by way of Chomp.

So what does Apple think about Chomp one-upping them in app discovery? “Apple is insanely excited about this,” Keighran says. Undoubtedly Google is excited for Chomp to come to Android too. Because this is a very real problem across all platforms and one that’s only growing in size.

Here’s all you need to know…

Gavin Newsom is Nancy Pelosi’s nephew.

Nancy Pelosi’s son (Gavin Newsom’s cousin), Paul Pelosi, Jr., heads and advises many of the San Francisco level gov’t agencies and “foundations” (even holding the position of “Special Adviser on the Environment to the Director of the NASA Ames Research Center”) spending SF’s share of stimulus money on federally mandated and nearly fully stimulus funded environmental and algae biofuel projects. Which companies like Honeywell, Solazyme, Unilever, and a dozen or so other SF headquartered corporations and biofuel start-ups are benefiting from. Biofuel projects which were once headed by Obama’s Sec. of Energy, Steven Chu.

SF is desperately trying to become to the biofuel industry, what Houston is to the oil and gas industry. With the progressive’s push to shift America away from conventional energy…one begins to see the benefit of this new sought feather for the city of SF’s cap.

The only thing likely motivating Newsom’s comments is that SF didn’t receive more or all of CA’s share of stimulus. Once all of SF’s progressive elites have begun profiting off their biofuel “investments,” there will be more lobster and bj parties to be had. Win/win for Newsom any way you look at it.

robert shumake

ASEAN <b>News</b> Summary | Live Stock Trading <b>News</b> | Equities, Forex <b>...</b>

Get the best in ASEAN News daily at www.aseanaffairs.com ASEAN Affairs. PTT drops bid for Carrefour PTT Plc of Thailand is dropping its bid to purchase.

Official Google Blog: Google <b>News</b> turns eight

Today we celebrate the eighth birthday of Google News. Not long after the tragic events of September 11, 2001, we started building and testing Google News with the aim of helping you find current events from a wide variety of global and ...

Small Business <b>News</b>: The Times They Are A Changing

In the 60's it was a song of revolution when change was just not as common. Today, it reflects a fact of life, at least for small business owners and.

robert shumake

ASEAN <b>News</b> Summary | Live Stock Trading <b>News</b> | Equities, Forex <b>...</b>

Get the best in ASEAN News daily at www.aseanaffairs.com ASEAN Affairs. PTT drops bid for Carrefour PTT Plc of Thailand is dropping its bid to purchase.

Official Google Blog: Google <b>News</b> turns eight

Today we celebrate the eighth birthday of Google News. Not long after the tragic events of September 11, 2001, we started building and testing Google News with the aim of helping you find current events from a wide variety of global and ...

Small Business <b>News</b>: The Times They Are A Changing

In the 60's it was a song of revolution when change was just not as common. Today, it reflects a fact of life, at least for small business owners and.

why internet marketing

Being a slow news day (thus far at least), I started to look around and a report from July of this year from Network Solutions and some partners caught my eye. It was used to make a point over at Small Business Trends about SMB’s (small and medium business) and social media (a point which is much different than the one here so go check it out). When you take a little deeper dive into the findings it looks like the SMB group as a whole is saying what it says a lot when it comes to the latest and greatest business practices: We aren’t getting it like you think we are.

This is not to say that SMB’s are not using social media. That’s not the case at all. What appears to be all over the map are expectations and what happens when SMB’s, social media and reality intersect. Look at the chart below, which puts marketing barely into the “very important” category AND tells us that it’s not performing well.

That kind of response in a poor economy is reasonable since businesses are hurting no matter what is being tried to pick up the pace. What is interesting though is that marketing is not the top of the food chain for SMB’s – getting money to PAY for marketing is! It doesn’t get any clearer moving forward either.

What’s baffling are the details about using social media for this elusive group that makes up most of the businesses in the US. They always want to play but can’t seem to get over the hump when it come to Internet marketing as a whole.

For instance, if social media is the “wave of the future” why are the responses showing no growth or even some reduction in social media offerings like blogs?

But then in fine SMB tradition, they like to talk a great game and their expectations of social media ‘success’ have increased! Incongruent for sure but this is important to understand about the SMB. They love to talk about stuff but when it gets to doing it the walk rarely lives up to the talk. There is plenty of optimism as always but optimism without action is fantasy.

Here may be the real reason why SMB’s seem to have put the brakes on a bit with regard to social media. It’s not all unicorns and rainbows like the industry likes to portray.

This is another part of reality that the SMB hates to recognize. Oftentimes social media criticisms are very personal because the SMB is a person or that person is the face of the company. The “everything is roses” approach by social media consultants to this group usually neglects the potential risks and downsides. The cold hard facts are that social media takes time and money despite the industry push to present it as free and easy. Oh and it can sting a bit as well if someone wants to take an online swipe at an SMB.

So the world of SMB’s, Internet marketing and social media continues to be a puzzle wrapped in an enigma. It’s hard to pin down. Maybe it’s just time to stop trying to draw broad generalizations about a group that is as diverse as any on the planet. Each SMB has their own signature and fingerprint even within the same vertical but we still try to tell them “This will work because it’s cool, it’s current and everyone is doing it successfully!” That’s just not true.

The reality is that not all SMB’s are suited for the Internet in general and social media specifically. Some are perfectly suited for it but they may not be the majority of SMB’s when it is all said and done.

So what is your take on the SMB and social media? How do you see this huge market that proves to be so elusive? What are the biggest opportunities and / or barriers that exist for this group?

Social Media Monitoring in Just 60-Seconds. Guaranteed!

When I was ready to transition from computer programmer to project manager, my employer, Xerox Corporation, sent me to its huge training center in Leesburg, Virginia. Over two weeks, the people there taught me some of the skills I needed in order to succeed in my new role: managing projects, motivating people, complying with employment regulations, and preparing status reports and presentations. The company also encouraged me to complete an MBA, on a part-time basis, at New York University. It gave me lots of time off and paid for the tuition.

Tech companies in the internet era offer their employees some great perks. But do you think that Facebook, Groupon, or Zynga provide budding professionals with any serious management training? Not at all. Given the way tech companies grow and the HR challenges they face, management training and career development are more important than ever. But few have the time—they are too busy surviving.

Professors Robert Fulmer and Byron Hanson of Duke University’s Corporate Education group researched the management practices of 23 leading high-tech firms. Corporate executives in an overwhelming majority, 89 percent, believed that leadership development was becoming increasingly important for their companies; 58 percent ranked this as a high corporate priority. Yet less than one-fourth of the managers interviewed had a clear roadmap for how they could develop themselves, and more than half didn’t even know who in their organization was responsible for the development of leaders. The conclusion of the researchers wasn’t surprising: many high-tech companies are young, so their systems and procedures for grooming leaders aren’t well developed or firmly established.

Maybe this is why so many tech companies suffer from morale problems, missed deadlines, customer-support disasters, and high turnover. And this may be one of the reasons why so many tech startups who succeed in selling their vision and raising millions in financing are just a flash in the pan.

One of the interesting findings in the Fulmer and Hanson research was that more than 70 percent of the tech executives interviewed said that leadership development in technology-driven firms is different than in other industries. The researchers believed, just as I do, that these tech executives were dead wrong. The lessons that leading companies like Proctor and Gamble and General Electric have learned about management development and training apply as much, if not more, to tech companies.

This means that if you’re a fresh grad joining a hot new tech startup, you shouldn’t expect your managers to train and groom you, or the company to provide you with time off to complete an MBA. You’re on your own. If you are working at some of the more established companies, such as IBM and HP—which do have excellent management-development practices—take full advantage of them. You need to learn all you can.

Many people are born with an innate sense of vision; they readily learn new technologies and master them. Some are very good at communicating and inspiring others. But you can’t be born with the skills needed to plan projects, adhere to EEOC guidelines, and prepare budgets and manage finances, or to know the intricacies of business and intellectual property law. All this has to be learned. Some skills can be developed on the job, but this is usually through trial and error.

I usually recommend that engineering students who want to become managers and CEOs complete a fifth year of education. There are one-year long engineering management programs which cover such subjects as marketing, finance, intellectual property, business law, and management—similar to the key courses in an MBA program; plus tech-oriented subjects like innovation management, operations management, and entrepreneurship.  One such program (and there are many) is the Duke Masters of Engineering Management program, at which I teach.

For experienced tech workers in Silicon Valley, Berkeley and Stanford both have excellent MBA programs. Berkeley Haas School dean, Rich Lyons told me over dinner, last month, of his plans to make his school the premier training ground for Silicon Valley executives. Boston’s Babson College is also launching a program in San Francisco.

But not everyone needs to spend two years doing an MBA. Berkeley’s college of engineering is creating a much shorter program targeted at Silicon Valley techies with leadership potential. Under the aegis of Fung Institute Chief Scientist and Director of UC Berkeley’s Center for Entrepreneurship & Technology, Ikhlaq Sidhu, the school is developing a professional program in Engineering Leadership. This will meet one evening a week for six months and teach subjects like product management, entrepreneurial thinking, leadership and finance. It will also teach team building, business management, and motivation.

The new Berkeley program is highly selective however.  It will only accept 25 candidates in 2011, based on recommendations from senior executives in the valley. Sidhu says that he hopes to address the “symptoms of engineering without leadership”—which include organizational indecision about new products and services; unresolved conflict between product management and engineering; and superficial technology strategies.  Berkeley will likely expand this program significantly over time and add many others. After all there is a great need.

Editor’s note: Guest writer Vivek Wadhwa  is an entrepreneur turned academic. He is a Visiting Scholar at the School of Information at UC-Berkeley, Senior Research Associate at Harvard Law School and Director of Research at the Center for Entrepreneurship and Research Commercialization at Duke University. You can follow him on Twitter at @vwadhwaand find his research at www.wadhwa.com.

FileMaker releases FileMaker Go updates for iPhone and iPad <b>...</b>

iLounge news discussing the FileMaker releases FileMaker Go updates for iPhone and iPad. Find more iPad news from leading independent iPod, iPhone, and iPad site.

Wednesday <b>News</b> « The Confluence

In news related to Michelle raising more money, the GOP seems to be short of it. Gosh, other than 8 years of a failed presidency, and then attacking the popular candidates and their supporters just as the Dems are doing, I can't imagine ...

Official Google Blog: Google <b>News</b> turns eight

Today we celebrate the eighth birthday of Google News. Not long after the tragic events of September 11, 2001, we started building and testing Google News with the aim of helping you find current events from a wide variety of global and ...

robert shumake

FileMaker releases FileMaker Go updates for iPhone and iPad <b>...</b>

iLounge news discussing the FileMaker releases FileMaker Go updates for iPhone and iPad. Find more iPad news from leading independent iPod, iPhone, and iPad site.

Wednesday <b>News</b> « The Confluence

In news related to Michelle raising more money, the GOP seems to be short of it. Gosh, other than 8 years of a failed presidency, and then attacking the popular candidates and their supporters just as the Dems are doing, I can't imagine ...

Official Google Blog: Google <b>News</b> turns eight

Today we celebrate the eighth birthday of Google News. Not long after the tragic events of September 11, 2001, we started building and testing Google News with the aim of helping you find current events from a wide variety of global and ...

Being a slow news day (thus far at least), I started to look around and a report from July of this year from Network Solutions and some partners caught my eye. It was used to make a point over at Small Business Trends about SMB’s (small and medium business) and social media (a point which is much different than the one here so go check it out). When you take a little deeper dive into the findings it looks like the SMB group as a whole is saying what it says a lot when it comes to the latest and greatest business practices: We aren’t getting it like you think we are.

This is not to say that SMB’s are not using social media. That’s not the case at all. What appears to be all over the map are expectations and what happens when SMB’s, social media and reality intersect. Look at the chart below, which puts marketing barely into the “very important” category AND tells us that it’s not performing well.

That kind of response in a poor economy is reasonable since businesses are hurting no matter what is being tried to pick up the pace. What is interesting though is that marketing is not the top of the food chain for SMB’s – getting money to PAY for marketing is! It doesn’t get any clearer moving forward either.

What’s baffling are the details about using social media for this elusive group that makes up most of the businesses in the US. They always want to play but can’t seem to get over the hump when it come to Internet marketing as a whole.

For instance, if social media is the “wave of the future” why are the responses showing no growth or even some reduction in social media offerings like blogs?

But then in fine SMB tradition, they like to talk a great game and their expectations of social media ‘success’ have increased! Incongruent for sure but this is important to understand about the SMB. They love to talk about stuff but when it gets to doing it the walk rarely lives up to the talk. There is plenty of optimism as always but optimism without action is fantasy.

Here may be the real reason why SMB’s seem to have put the brakes on a bit with regard to social media. It’s not all unicorns and rainbows like the industry likes to portray.

This is another part of reality that the SMB hates to recognize. Oftentimes social media criticisms are very personal because the SMB is a person or that person is the face of the company. The “everything is roses” approach by social media consultants to this group usually neglects the potential risks and downsides. The cold hard facts are that social media takes time and money despite the industry push to present it as free and easy. Oh and it can sting a bit as well if someone wants to take an online swipe at an SMB.

So the world of SMB’s, Internet marketing and social media continues to be a puzzle wrapped in an enigma. It’s hard to pin down. Maybe it’s just time to stop trying to draw broad generalizations about a group that is as diverse as any on the planet. Each SMB has their own signature and fingerprint even within the same vertical but we still try to tell them “This will work because it’s cool, it’s current and everyone is doing it successfully!” That’s just not true.

The reality is that not all SMB’s are suited for the Internet in general and social media specifically. Some are perfectly suited for it but they may not be the majority of SMB’s when it is all said and done.

So what is your take on the SMB and social media? How do you see this huge market that proves to be so elusive? What are the biggest opportunities and / or barriers that exist for this group?

Social Media Monitoring in Just 60-Seconds. Guaranteed!

When I was ready to transition from computer programmer to project manager, my employer, Xerox Corporation, sent me to its huge training center in Leesburg, Virginia. Over two weeks, the people there taught me some of the skills I needed in order to succeed in my new role: managing projects, motivating people, complying with employment regulations, and preparing status reports and presentations. The company also encouraged me to complete an MBA, on a part-time basis, at New York University. It gave me lots of time off and paid for the tuition.

Tech companies in the internet era offer their employees some great perks. But do you think that Facebook, Groupon, or Zynga provide budding professionals with any serious management training? Not at all. Given the way tech companies grow and the HR challenges they face, management training and career development are more important than ever. But few have the time—they are too busy surviving.

Professors Robert Fulmer and Byron Hanson of Duke University’s Corporate Education group researched the management practices of 23 leading high-tech firms. Corporate executives in an overwhelming majority, 89 percent, believed that leadership development was becoming increasingly important for their companies; 58 percent ranked this as a high corporate priority. Yet less than one-fourth of the managers interviewed had a clear roadmap for how they could develop themselves, and more than half didn’t even know who in their organization was responsible for the development of leaders. The conclusion of the researchers wasn’t surprising: many high-tech companies are young, so their systems and procedures for grooming leaders aren’t well developed or firmly established.

Maybe this is why so many tech companies suffer from morale problems, missed deadlines, customer-support disasters, and high turnover. And this may be one of the reasons why so many tech startups who succeed in selling their vision and raising millions in financing are just a flash in the pan.

One of the interesting findings in the Fulmer and Hanson research was that more than 70 percent of the tech executives interviewed said that leadership development in technology-driven firms is different than in other industries. The researchers believed, just as I do, that these tech executives were dead wrong. The lessons that leading companies like Proctor and Gamble and General Electric have learned about management development and training apply as much, if not more, to tech companies.

This means that if you’re a fresh grad joining a hot new tech startup, you shouldn’t expect your managers to train and groom you, or the company to provide you with time off to complete an MBA. You’re on your own. If you are working at some of the more established companies, such as IBM and HP—which do have excellent management-development practices—take full advantage of them. You need to learn all you can.

Many people are born with an innate sense of vision; they readily learn new technologies and master them. Some are very good at communicating and inspiring others. But you can’t be born with the skills needed to plan projects, adhere to EEOC guidelines, and prepare budgets and manage finances, or to know the intricacies of business and intellectual property law. All this has to be learned. Some skills can be developed on the job, but this is usually through trial and error.

I usually recommend that engineering students who want to become managers and CEOs complete a fifth year of education. There are one-year long engineering management programs which cover such subjects as marketing, finance, intellectual property, business law, and management—similar to the key courses in an MBA program; plus tech-oriented subjects like innovation management, operations management, and entrepreneurship.  One such program (and there are many) is the Duke Masters of Engineering Management program, at which I teach.

For experienced tech workers in Silicon Valley, Berkeley and Stanford both have excellent MBA programs. Berkeley Haas School dean, Rich Lyons told me over dinner, last month, of his plans to make his school the premier training ground for Silicon Valley executives. Boston’s Babson College is also launching a program in San Francisco.

But not everyone needs to spend two years doing an MBA. Berkeley’s college of engineering is creating a much shorter program targeted at Silicon Valley techies with leadership potential. Under the aegis of Fung Institute Chief Scientist and Director of UC Berkeley’s Center for Entrepreneurship & Technology, Ikhlaq Sidhu, the school is developing a professional program in Engineering Leadership. This will meet one evening a week for six months and teach subjects like product management, entrepreneurial thinking, leadership and finance. It will also teach team building, business management, and motivation.

The new Berkeley program is highly selective however.  It will only accept 25 candidates in 2011, based on recommendations from senior executives in the valley. Sidhu says that he hopes to address the “symptoms of engineering without leadership”—which include organizational indecision about new products and services; unresolved conflict between product management and engineering; and superficial technology strategies.  Berkeley will likely expand this program significantly over time and add many others. After all there is a great need.

Editor’s note: Guest writer Vivek Wadhwa  is an entrepreneur turned academic. He is a Visiting Scholar at the School of Information at UC-Berkeley, Senior Research Associate at Harvard Law School and Director of Research at the Center for Entrepreneurship and Research Commercialization at Duke University. You can follow him on Twitter at @vwadhwaand find his research at www.wadhwa.com.

robert shumake

FileMaker releases FileMaker Go updates for iPhone and iPad <b>...</b>

iLounge news discussing the FileMaker releases FileMaker Go updates for iPhone and iPad. Find more iPad news from leading independent iPod, iPhone, and iPad site.

Wednesday <b>News</b> « The Confluence

In news related to Michelle raising more money, the GOP seems to be short of it. Gosh, other than 8 years of a failed presidency, and then attacking the popular candidates and their supporters just as the Dems are doing, I can't imagine ...

Official Google Blog: Google <b>News</b> turns eight

Today we celebrate the eighth birthday of Google News. Not long after the tragic events of September 11, 2001, we started building and testing Google News with the aim of helping you find current events from a wide variety of global and ...

robert shumake

FileMaker releases FileMaker Go updates for iPhone and iPad <b>...</b>

iLounge news discussing the FileMaker releases FileMaker Go updates for iPhone and iPad. Find more iPad news from leading independent iPod, iPhone, and iPad site.

Wednesday <b>News</b> « The Confluence

In news related to Michelle raising more money, the GOP seems to be short of it. Gosh, other than 8 years of a failed presidency, and then attacking the popular candidates and their supporters just as the Dems are doing, I can't imagine ...

Official Google Blog: Google <b>News</b> turns eight

Today we celebrate the eighth birthday of Google News. Not long after the tragic events of September 11, 2001, we started building and testing Google News with the aim of helping you find current events from a wide variety of global and ...